Widow B Pension from 1942, Widow D Pension from 1947 to 1960

As part of a scheme of widows' pensions, Widow B Pension (WidB) paid to widows who were aged 50 years over and were without dependent children. Included de facto widows who had been living with deceased partner for at least three years prior to his death and had been maintained by him. Eligibility also given to deserted wives who had been deserted for at least six months, divorced women who had not remarried and women whose husbands were in hospitals for the insane. Widow A Pension (WidA) (included in publication on payments to those with children) paid to those with a dependent child under 16, while Widow C Pension (WidC) paid to widows under 50 with no children for a period of 26 weeks.

Claimants required to be resident in Australia and have resided in Australia continuously for five years immediately prior to application. Aliens and indigenous people of Australia, Africa, the Pacific and New Zealand ineligible. Exclusion did not apply to Aboriginal people who were exempt from state laws 'relating to the control of Aboriginal natives' or who lived in a state where such exemptions did not exist and who were eligible on grounds of 'character, intelligence and development'.

Means test applied to WidB. Possession of property above £50 in value resulted in reduction of annual rate of pension by £1 for every £10 in excess of £50. Widows with property valued above £400 ineligible for WidB. Homes, furniture and personal effects excluded from property value calculation. Pension also reduced by an amount equivalent to any income in excess of £32.10s per annum.

WidB paid four-weekly in arrears and rate subject to quarterly adjustment according to movements in Retail Price Index.

1942
July

WidB exempted from income tax.

1944
April

Quarterly rates adjustment abolished.

1947

July

Widow D Pension introduced

WidB paid fortnightly.

Women whose husbands were imprisoned for six or more months and had a dependent child or were over 50 years of age eligible for a Widow D Pension (WidD) which was paid under the same conditions as WidB.

New War Widow's Pension recipients ineligible for WidB. Those already receiving both pensions subject to transitional arrangements.

Earnings credit system introduced. Pensioners could save unused portions of income test free area to a limit of $1000. When income exceeded free area credit reduced until depleted. Normal income test then applied again.

1988
January

Fringe benefit (concession card) entitlement could be retained for three months after income exceeded income test limit by no more than 25 per cent.

1989
November

Indexation timing for WidB brought forward in several stages to March and September, with process was completed in September 1990.

WidB recipients able to receive advance payment of allowance, from $250 to $1000, in certain situations. Allowance then reduced over subsequent six to 12 months to for repayment of advance payment.

1997
January

WidB closed

No new WidB grants after 20 March. WidB recipients automatically transferred to Age Pension on reaching age pension age provided they and their partners were Australian residents at time WidB recipient widowed.

Advance payments restricted to amounts up to $500 and limited to one each 12 months.

1997

September

Rate of pension to be maintained at greater than or equal to 25 per cent of Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE). If regular CPI indexation results in a lower rate, pension increased to this benchmark.

2000
July

GST compensation

Pension rate increased as part of a package of measures to compensate for impact of GST introduction. A pension supplement equivalent to four per cent of maximum rate at July 2000 paid to all pensioners. Indexation provisions adjusted so that half of four per cent increase was an advance on whatever rate increase occurred in March 2001. Increased rate provided as a supplement so that it would not be included when pension rate was adjusted in line with benchmark of 25 per cent of MTAWE. This ensured that maximum rate of pension plus supplement would always be more than 25 per cent of MTAWE.

Allowances could be subject to income management in Northern Territory and Cape York. Income management involved diversion of 50 per cent of a recipient’s income support into an account that could only be drawn on to pay for priority needs, such as food, clothes and rent.

2008
December

Recipients received economic security strategy payments of $1400—part of the Economic Security Strategy to boost the economy after the GFC.

2009
July

Definition of ‘member of a couple’ changed to include same-sex couples.

Maximum rate increased by $30 per week. Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index used to adjust pension rates in September and March each year, when it produces a larger increase than CPI or MTAWE.

2010
March

The 25 per cent of MTAWE benchmark used to ensure pension rates kept pace with earnings growth adjusted to take account of September 2009 increase in pension rate. That increase had pushed rate well above existing benchmark. A new benchmark was set for combined Age Pension couple rate at 41.67 per cent of MTAWE. Single rate benchmarked at 66.33 per cent of couple rate (effectively 27.7 per cent of MTAWE).

2010
April

Disadvantaged income support recipients able to receive payments weekly rather than fortnightly.

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